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Topic: Is this container of honey still good? (Read 1595 times)

I have a small plastic jar of honey in my cabinet and it's been there for several years. It was opened a long time ago and has not been refrigerated. I looked into the matter yesterday; I observed that there was barely any scent left in it, and that it was crystallizing on the bottom of the plastic jar. Additionally, when it comes out, it is very thick and there are many clumps in it.

What do you guys think? Throw it away or heat it up and use it?

For my next jar of honey, how should I store it and how long should it keep? How do I know if honey has "gone bad?" Thanks

Taste it...if it tastes ok to you (it should I would think) warm it in a pan of water around 100F for a while to re-liquify. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs that was still alright so I don't think a couple of years would hurt it.

If that's all you use honey (a jar lasts about a week here) you wouldn't make a very good customer! :-D

Scott

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I wouldn't heat it at all. Crunchy honey stays on my cracker better. :-D When honey starts to turn, my wife then uses it in the kitchen. We love it. And old honey is just fine. We are always using year old honey.

Tightly seal the container and put it on the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Within a cycle or two it will be reliquified and probably taste like it did when it was first bottled. Age darkens some honey. I have a jar of honey a friend in tennessee gave me that is six years old and still not crystalized. He gave me a couple jars because it was the whitest honey he ever produced. About the only way to ruin honey is to overheat it.

If its very grainy and just about completely crystalized I wouldn't bother trying to re-liquify it. Use it in any recipe you would use sugar in. Hot liquids would dissolve it best. If its fine crystals you could use it as a starter to make creamed honey.

If its very grainy and just about completely crystalized I wouldn't bother trying to re-liquify it. Use it in any recipe you would use sugar in. Hot liquids would dissolve it best. If its fine crystals you could use it as a starter to make creamed honey.

...JP

JP,Have you done creamed honey? It's one of those things that I stumbled across while researching the whole beekeeping possibility that I really want to try at some point. Add it to the list along with Comb Honey, an observation hive, a horizontal hive, and a few others. :-DAnyway, creamed honey seems to be real popular and yet doesn't appear to be that difficult to make, yet....It doesn't seem like a lot of people do it.

Thoughts?

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Hey a old timer told me when I was a kid working the yards that they use to dry out the honey till it was a dry brick and crush it till it was llike sugar and then use it just like sugar. Has anyone heard of this?

Hey guys, thanks for all your replies. Based on the encouragement, I went ahead and used the honey in a granola bar recipe. It turned out great! I had heated it up with the other liquid ingredients in a sauce pan; absolutely no problems with it. I have never used honey in a recipe before; this was my first time. I think I'll be doing this on a regular basis now.

I'm interested in buying more honey, but I'm confused. I see jars of clear honey and I see jars of cloudy honey. Why are some cloudy and gel-like while others are clear and runny-like?

There are a number of possible reasons for the differences you are seeing.

Spring honey will generally be lighter depending on the source, fall honey is generally darker.

Also take into consideration straining/filtering methods. Not all are created equal. Some prefer clean honey where some don't mind a lil extra junk (pollen, wax, etc...). The cleaner it is the clearer it is but then again if it has some age to it, of course again, depending on the source it could change from clear to cloudy.

As the bottom stuff crystalizes first, you'll have a separation of the crystals at the bottom and what liquid is on top. This will give you some color change as well.

Taste it...if it tastes ok to you (it should I would think) warm it in a pan of water around 100F for a while to re-liquify. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs that was still alright so I don't think a couple of years would hurt it.

If that's all you use honey (a jar lasts about a week here) you wouldn't make a very good customer! :-D

Scott

We are like yall Scott. Quart a week or better seems about right. That's why I became a Beek. To expensive of a habit! :-D

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Psalm 19:9-10The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.More to be desired are they than gold, yea ,than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.